A Hero's True Love
by HamburgerWithTea
Summary: Superhero!US x Cop!UK, AU. Arthur has to catch a very feared criminal, and he's doing a good job until he gets into trouble. The city's hero comes to help him out. minor OP included, possible character death, not US/UK who die
1. Chapter 1

**A Hero's True Love**

Chapter 1

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>summary/

Superhero!US x Cop!UK, AU. Arthur has to catch a very feared criminal, and he's doing a good job until he gets into trouble. The city's hero comes to help him out. minor OP included, possible character death (not US/UK)

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><p><em>A big thanks to Caroline, <em>_**caroshadow**__ on dA and **FF!** (find a link on my profile!), for helping me think up the past of the characters, make all characters IC and keep all the awesome shared among the characters to keep it all a fair battle, and helping me keeping the story less cliché 3 she's the best, and she really helped me out a lot! Please visit her dA, it's worth it, and also give her a REALLY BIG thanks (also since she helped me beta-ing… really. How awesome can someone be? She's almost the level of Prussia… but of course ALMOST since well, Prussia is awesome itself…) !_

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><p>Right now he was running through a small, dark alley, He was chasing one of the most well-known and most feared criminals of the city, the country even.<p>

Arthur always wanted to be a cop ever since he was little. Most boys around that age wanted to be a fire-fighter or a cop or something the like, just like how most girls wanted to become a nurse or just a housewife. But Arthur still wanted to be cop in those years after his childhood, when people started getting serious future plans. He just thought justice was very important in this world, and he really wanted the streets to be safe.

Especially since the fact that his dad had abandoned his mom because of a gang he was in to get money for the family only strengthened his resolve. In the end his father was caught by the police for murder and shut into the prison, and that's where he still was, as far as Arthur was concerned. After all he had murdered someone, it wasn't like he'd get released soon.

Arthur never heard who exactly was murdered, or what the reason was. All he could remember was the last time he met his father; It was a cold and rainy autumn day, grey all over, just like most of the time in the UK, and his dad has just been arrested.

At that time Arthur's mother was working very hard to earn enough money to keep her sons and herself alive and even enough to give the boys a proper education. She was a really strong woman. But at that time she'd been crying, telling Arthur and his brothers how much she loved their dad at first, and that we shouldn't blame him, and that all he needed was some rest at the prison and then he'd come back to our family once he was released.

But by that time he already hated his dad. He had left them all, he made his mom and brothers suffer, because of him they had to work very hard to have just enough money to buy food and education and once in a while a new pair of cloths, and now he even ruined their reputation of being a normal family. It had all neighbours talk about what exactly happened and rumours started to spread about how it was his mother's fault for having an affair and of how she'd helped him plan the murder, and even their family being part of the mafia.

After his mother talked a while with his dad, and Arthur and his brothers all got to say their dad goodbye, all of the boys started to hate their father more as time passed. It was then that Arthur decided he'd never allow himself to become someone like his father and that he'd do anything for justice.

After they all said goodbye at the man that was so familiar, yet so strange to them, they never came around the police office ever again. None of the boys ever got to know what their mother and father had discussed when they waited outside, but the week after their goodbye, they left the village to have a new start in a new town, further south.

Over the years they managed to have a pretty good life, all of Arthur's brothers graduating high school and university even, and then went to work as business-men. All of them had the goal to become successful, have a good job and a great life, so they all had worked very hard. First at school and later at their jobs.

At this time, Arthur's 23rd spring, his mother had fallen ill due to overwork and having to take care of Arthur and his brothers. She wasn't allowed or able to work now, so she'd just sit at home and stare out the window, only being a replacement for the happy woman she once was. Her emerald eyes, which Arthur's own looked like, didn't shine anymore. They used to be so bright and always make Arthur happy, but nowadays it only made him feel miserable and feel as if she was a stranger.

He and his brothers saved up money so she could live without worrying about that, and she appreciated it very much, but still, it stung Arthur to see how sad his mother looked, and how that was all his father's fault. It made him even more eager of becoming the best policeman ever.

And that's exactly why he was now running through this alley, huffing and puffing due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs after he'd been running for several minutes, non-stop. Running had never been his strong point. Strategy was. He'd come up with smart ideas and lure the criminals out of their hiding places. That's why he was very respected among most of the other policemen.

Also that was why he got to take care of this most feared criminal.

To catch the criminal, he'd thought up a pretty clever strategy, even if he said so himself. It had worked out very well, until the very last level of the plan, and the criminal figured them out and was now running for his dear freedom.

Ever since a few years there was a superhero protecting the town. He would save people from all sorts of things and sometimes even catch a criminal. He'd probably help them out if they asked him, but Arthur didn't want that to happen. This was his job, his case and he wanted to fulfil it no matter what. He didn't need any stupid hero's help for this. That guy was probably only a selfish show-off anyway.

Finally he saw the shadow of the criminal that was running in a few meters before him.

"_Found you," _Arthur thought while some kind of dark smirk crossed his face.

He quickly ran around the same corner as where the shadow had run to, only to be faced by several guys from who he only knew two.

The first was the most feared criminal of the country; Ivan Braginski. He was from Russia and ever since he'd come to the UK to claim territory for the Russian mafia, he'd been the most feared. Barely anyone was able to ever get a glimpse of him. The man would always be where the important things were going on, but no one ever saw him. And the ones who did, wouldn't live to tell…

The second man was Francis Bonnefoy. An ex-cop and ex-colleague from Arthur. He once was a pretty good cop, even tough he was quiet perverted, but after he got offered a pretty big amount of money (Nobody except for Francis and Ivan knew exactly how much) the frog had joined the enemy.

Arthur stood there, facing what seemed to be at least one quarter of the whole gang, which meant it was around fifty people, each and everyone of them armed with baseball bets, knifes, guns or what else they may could use to kill someone easily and accurately.

_Fuck._

Looking around to see any of the other cops, Arthur noted that he was alone. One against fifty. _How unfair. _

He tried to slowly grab his emergency beeper, that would send an S.O.S. signal to all police units and their cops within the city, and send a GPS signal to show them where he was. But before he reached the button his arms were grabbed and pulled up behind his back. The pain was immense.

"Arwgh!" he groaned as he felt the pain in his shoulders that were almost broken by sudden and harsh movement that they weren't used to.

"I'd rather not try calling your friends out, da?" a happy, yet creepy voice said. Arthur looked up to see the face of the Russian smiling and looking down upon him.

"Aw don't 'urt mon petit Arthur too much, Ivan, 'e might be useful," Francis interrupted with a teasing voice with a thick French accent. That part of his hadn't changed in the last year.

"That might be right, da… Let's take him with us to the shack," Ivan replayed, now talking to Francis, but still grinning with a somewhat dark aura.

And as soon as he said that, the guy that held Arthur's arms on his back, started to move. They walked onwards in the dark alley, going the exact opposite way from where Arthur came from.

Arthur started to struggle and try to get himself free, even tough he knew there was a very small change he'd succeed… no chance even. After he'd struggled for a while and they didn't move too fast, the guys holding him were starting to get tired of it. They started to kick Arthur's legs in attempt to have him walking onwards, but it didn't have any effect, Arthur had been trained for this type of situations.

After all methods the guys tried failed, they decided to give up and ask Ivan what to do with him. Ivan only replayed;

"Maybe he needs some nice sleep, da? It's probably been a very long day for sir Arthur," He said while turning his face around, still smiling.

The moment Arthur realised what he meant by that, it was too late. His head hurt, his mind went blank and he sunk into the depths of the deep, dark emptiness of his now unconscious brain.

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><p><em>Author's note/_

_Okay, so first I was planning to keep this a one, maybe a two-shot, but in the end I got a full story, especially with help from Caroline, so it'll be a multiple chapter fic now XD and yes, both Francis and Ivan are evil :P wohooo BLAME IT ON CAROLINE :P lol jk, but it'll be explained later in the story. _

_This story will probably be updated less often as HwRT, but whatever :P Reviews make the updates go faster, I swear._

_Also, both Caroline and I are Dutch, so even tough we tried our hardest to have the sentences and words spelled right and using good grammar, if you find any mistakes, just say so._

_I don't really have anything else to say, except that it'll all make sense later in the story, as for why we chose certain characters for certain roles :P_

_Drama all over, I promise you guys :P_

_Byebye 3_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(05/15/11)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Hero's True Love**

Chapter 2

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>He woke up with a very bright light shining in his eyes. He couldn't see anything asides from the very bright light which seemed to come from a lamp that was placed somewhat in front of him, and a bit above the height of his eyes.<p>

"You awake now, mon ami?" a voice asked from somewhere behind the lamp. Obviously it was the frog.

"Belt up," Was all Arthur could manage to murmur form under his breath. His head still hurt from when he was hit to unconsciousness and therefore was bent down to try keep the eye-hurting light shut out as much as possible.

"Aw really, mon ami, you should 'ave joined Ivan just as I did," said Francis, "You'd be off a lot better now in both money and situation you're in now…" He continued with a somewhat sinister sound in his voice.

"Belt up, I said!" Arthur replayed, now lifting his head a bit, trying to find eyes to glare into, but he was still blinded by the lamp, "I'd rather die then join a filthy gang like this!" He said, sounding much braver then he felt. And as soon as he noticed what he'd said, he knew he'd dug his own grave. Especially after the whole room went silent. Not even a breath was heard.

Then after at least thirty seconds of pure silence someone spoke up. It was Ivan.

"Well, for now we'll keep you alive, see if you might be useful… You're one of the highest ranks after all… But after that…" a small chuckle was heard after he cut off his sentence. This scared Arthur even more.

Arthur stayed silent, waiting for whatever would come next. Maybe he'd get beaten? Maybe they try other cruel methods to make him talk? Maybe they'd threaten him with killing his family if he wouldn't speak, or maybe they already kidnapped a family member, or maybe several or maybe…

His thoughts were cut off when some unknown voice spoke from the crowd;

"So, what do we do now, sir?" it said, "Should we beat the shit out of him, or what else?"

Arthur's body stiffened when he heard that. He would really try to avoid getting into even bigger trouble as much as possible, though he'd never tell any of the police secrets. Also, they probably already had a lot of information about the police, since every gang leader would be smart enough to at least have several people settled into the policeforce.

"Nyet, let him sit here for now. No food and water, see how long he'll take it," Ivan replayed with still a very happy sound to his voice.

Arthur was shocked. _"How can any man be so cruel?" _Arthur thought, _"No food and no water… That's impossible to survive!" _ He was sure of it. He was doomed. He'd have to either die a very slow and horrible death and keep all secrets, or tell them all not even knowing if they'd release him if he did so. Could his life get any worse? He never thought his life would end this way…

"Then we'll leave him now, da!" Ivan said, and Arthur heard several people's footsteps walking away, and then heard a door open. He heard the people walk outside and then the door was closed.

He was alone now. At least as far as he was concerned.

He tried to let his eyes get used to the light and looked around a bit… he started to see a little more, but still the lamp was too bright to see anything properly. He could see that the room was quiet small tough. And as far a he heard and saw, he was alone there. He preferred it that way.

After sitting there doing nothing for quiet a while, he started to think about things. Things he had seen happening in his life, things he'd experienced and things he'd still wanted to do in his life.

He didn't even get a wife. Well maybe in this situation it was for the best, since otherwise he'd be worried about how his wife, what would happen if she got involved and how she would go on living after he died here, not even sure if anyone would even find back his body.

But he'd have loved to have a wife, even tough he had never really fancied anyone. His mother would have loved it if he'd get a wife. All of his brothers had have several relationships, but none of them turned out into something serious, and his mom always looked so sad to see that another relationship broke up, and for that he wanted to show his mom that he'd be able to get a proper wife and have a happy marriage.

But that won't happen now… He'll die here, and his mother will have to suffer from losing him forever.

He sat there thinking for a while until he noticed he was feeling quiet warm. He looked, once again, back up at the lamp. He could feel it was that lamp producing the heat.

How ironic. He'd die sooner, that was for sure, since he'd be dehydrated way faster this way, but he'd also have to suffer more. He'd always disliked the heat, and especially in this situation, it was like hell itself.

His mind started to wander off to more horrible things. He started to remember all the bad things in his life, all the troubles he'd been through and all the struggles he had. Then he also thought about what they might do with his body after this was over, after he was dead.

He dozed of in some sort of half-asleep-half-awake state only to be woken up by a door clicking open from the lock.

He heard someone walking into the room. Whoever it was only took a look, it seemed, and then walked out again to lock the door behind him. Like it was only to check if he'd died yet.

Really, how long had Arthur been here? How many minutes, hours, days had passed since he'd been locked up here? Would the policeforce have already started to look for him yet? Not like they had a much of a chance of finding him… if the gangsters could make themselves invisible, then they could also make some random cop invisible.

Arthur felt, once again, the heat the lamp produced. He still wore his police uniform jacket, he noticed. It made him feel even hotter. Also, he started to notice how his stomach felt empty. But that was somewhat endurable compared to his thirst. Yes his thirst. Horrible it was, really. He'd do anything to have something to drink now, anything really.

Then he started to fall into a daze again.

He was once again awoken, and again by the sound of the door opening and closing. He felt horrible right now. Hunger and thirst and heat all together. Horrible, just horrible, it was.

"Hello there, Arthur." He heard Ivan say. It sounded somewhat muted, probably because of the bad state he himself was in. "Let's see if you want to talk now, da?" Once again he said that 'da' thing.

"_Really, the guy should stop using that stupid language of his, the wanker!" _

Two men walked past him and stood behind him, one at the left side and one at the right. He could vaguely see them holding several things.

A baseball bat, a knife, a plank with piercing nails in it… And asides from what they were holding in they hands, they also had _a lot _of weapons hanging around their bodies. Arthur shivered at the sight. This was going to hurt…

"Well then, Arthur, please talk, tell us where our gang members are locked up and how it's all guarded… Otherwise I might not know what else to do but to hurt you…" Ivan said, and Arthur could now see his smile, since he stepped into the light of the lamp, that childishly cruel smile. Arthur couldn't think rationally anymore. His mind was blank with fear, but still he didn't say anything.

"Well, c'mon then, dear Arthur. You're our precious guest, we wouldn't want to hurt you!" Ivan continued as the Brit kept silent.

Ivan now gave a small nod, almost unnoticeable, to one of the guys behind Arthur. He suddenly was hit on his back without any mercy. It hurt, it bloody hurt!

Arthur gritted his teeth, trying to act cool as long as possible, since a small piece of his mind hoped that they'd leave him alone if they'd notice he wouldn't talk. But deep down he knew it was a lie. Those guys would never stop, not until he either said what they wanted him to say, or dying from pain, injuries or lack of food and water. Or all of those combined…

But still he kept his mouth shut. He knew it was his duty to keep the government's secrets hidden forever. That was a very important part of his job for him; being honest and loyal and saving people by doing so.

Again he felt someone hit his back, this time with something that felt like wood. Probably the baseball bat.

Arthur tried to distract himself from the pain and the fear as he looked around in the room. Again a hit, this time against his side. He gasped for air as he felt some of his ribs crack under the force of the hit and the pain that followed right after that.

His sight started to blur. He didn't want to die. He didn't deserve to die!

"Well, guys, why are you stopping? He's still being stubborn…"

Another series of punches and hits followed. After they were done Arthur gasped for even more air, his whole body aching, wishing it'd stop.

He looked up a tiny bit, just to see Ivan smiling down at him, with the same innocent smile but also a horribly dark shadow shown on his face.

Still Arthur kept his mouth shut.

"He still doesn't understand, does he?" Ivan asked.

One of the two men now took out one of the knifes he'd been wearing. Slowly Ivan walked up to him, taking the knife from him and then walking back to face Arthur, still wearing his unwavering smile.

"I can make you talk, don't worry," He said, and his dark aura grew even bigger, for as far possible.

Arthur felt even more scared now Ivan himself was threatening him, and with a knife even!

He made a gulp sound and tried to breathe as steady as possible and keep his cool image. Ivan didn't fall for the pose though.

"Really, sir Arthur, we don't _want_to hurt you..." Ivan now whispered. Arthur thought he was even scarier when he whispered than when he smiled his usual dark-aura smile.

Slowly he felt the flat side of the knife touch the skin on his right cheek. It was cold, almost pleasant, against his warm skin.

Ivan now slowly turned the knife so that the sharp edge now almost cut Arthur's cheek open.

Arthur didn't know where to look at. All he could see were either Ivan's evil glancing eyes or the knife cutting its way through his cheek causing a horrible type of pain. The pain was so intense…

Arthur found himself panting, trying to do anything but think of the pain he was in.

"_Please, please let it stop!" _he thought desperately, _"If this goes on, I don't know if I can take it anymore, I don't know what I'll do…" _

The pain, the thirst, the hunger, the despair. Everything got blurry before his eyes, but still he felt how a knife was cut into his right arm, and a final stab in his shoulder. The pain was unbearable and he couldn't do anything but pass out. And that's what happened when he, once again, sunk into the deep, dark depth of his mind.

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><p><em>A big thanks to Caroline, <em>_**caroshadow**__ on dA and FF!, for helping me think up the past of the characters, make all characters IC and keep all the awesome shared among the characters to keep it all a fair battle, and helping me keeping the story less cliché 3 she's the best, and she really helped me out a lot! Please visit her dA, it's worth it, and also give her a REALLY BIG thanks (also since she helped me beta-ing… really. How awesome can someone be? She's almost the level of Prussia… but of course ALMOST since well, Prussia is awesome itself…) !_

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><p><em>author's note/_

_THE HERO WILL APPEAR IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Haha sorry I had to cut off here to keep a cliff-hanger, and the other chapter still isn't finished, so sorry if you guys have to wait longer :P BUT I PROMISE YOU GUYS YOUR HERO WILL COME TO SAVE ARTHUR 33_

_Well aside from that, not really much to say. Probably the new chapter of HwRT will be up tomorrow, but I still have to write it and stuff and my 2 weeks of finals officially began, so it might be a bit delayed, but I think I'll be able to keep up the weekly update for now? :D_

_Thanks for al reviews, comments and favs… I helps a lot :D_

_Oh and really guys, I was thinking about a lot more hardcore scene right there, but I figured not everyone would like to see too much pain happening XD so I will keep that to my own mind xD sorry for the ones who do like it :P_

_Oh and yes, I seem to like having Arthur faint, I promise I won't overdo it anymore :P lol_

_Have a nice day, byebye! 3_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_Oh and don't forget to visit CaroShadow's profile! 3  
><em>

_(05/16/11)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Before the chapter starts, I want to tell you I read all your reviews, comments and stuff, so I'm glad you guys helped me with some words that had to be fixed. I fixed them in this chapter already, but for the other chapters, I will do so when I've got the time. My finals are over, so it should be alright, but I can't be sure when I'll be fixing it :P I'm still lazy as ever._

_Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>A Hero's True Love<strong>

Chapter 3

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>With his head still half asleep, Arthur thought he heard a lot of noise form outside the door.<p>

"_I'm just hearing things…" _Arthur thought as he fell back into unconsciousness.

" –ake up, hey, wake up," a worried voice said. Arthur, still not fully awake, felt light pats at his left cheek…

"Hey wake up already, man!" the voice said, now a bit impatient but still worried. "Hey, I'm gonna take ya outa here, 'kay? Please try to be silent, it won't take long…"

Arthur tried to look up at his saviour. Was this even real? Maybe he was imagining things? He'd done so before ever since he was locked up, especially with the lack of food and water, but last time it were mint coloured bunnies and fairies, even unicorns… But this time it was different. Still this couldn't be real, right? Maybe he was even hallucinating movements now? It felt as if he was being hold in two strong arms, and it seemed like he was moved into a brighter space…

_Maybe he was dead?_

Arthur tried to open his eyes to see what was happening, but he failed. He already sunk back into unconsciousness. He started to get annoyed by passing out every time…

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><p>Arthur felt as if he was laying onto something nice, soft and warm, feeling somewhat happy, even though his body hurt.<p>

He couldn't be dead, if he was he wouldn't feel any pain, right?

And that was when he opened his eyes, to meet with the most beautiful sky-blue ones he'd ever seen, staring back at him.

"Ah, ya're finally awake, man," the blue-eyed man said, while striking a hand through his blonde hair. One small part of his hair stayed up, like an antenna. "Ya got me really worried for a sec there, dude!" the man continued to talk and Arthur felt a wet piece of cloth pressed against his forehead and right cheek.

"W-wha-?" Arthur stuttered, still a bit stunned by the situation he was in. He felt how the cold cloth wiped across his right cheek and cleaned the wound a bit. It felt so cold and pleasant against his hot skin.

"Ah dude, sorry, I almost forgot, my name's Alfred F Jones! I'm the city's superhero, ya know," the guy, who Arthur now knew as Alfred, pointed at himself while giving Arthur a thousand watt smile, "So ya're probably the gone-without-a-trace police officer, right? Arthur Kirkland or so? Damn, they're all looking for ya! But it was hard to find ya, really! They locked you in pretty well, even a hero like me had a hard time finding you!" Alfred continued, he seemed the hyperactive kind of guy.

"Where am I?" Arthur asked, still wondering what exactly was going on. It seemed like he was saved, by this superhero even, but he still didn't get the rest of what was going on.

"Ah ya're at my house, man, I had to take ya here to hide ya from these gangsters. Really, they were persistent! I didn't even got to tell the police yet, I guess it's better to keep ya hidden in here for now, tell nobody, in case they come 'nd get ya. Ya're lucky I've got this awesome secret hideout!" Alfred continued to explain, "Ya've got a pretty bad fever right now. Yer wounds are healing awesome though,"

"Hm," Arthur hummed in understatement, "May I get some water?" he asked with a hoarse voice.

"Ah, yeah sure, there ya go," the superhero replied, grabbing a plastic bottle filled with water and holding it against Arthurs lips, who tried to grab it with his right hand, but stopped with a grunt as he felt the horrible pain in his shoulder.

"Wow, take it easy, man, yer shoulder was stabbed pretty bad! No real deep stab, but a very painful spot though," Alfred said, somewhat in panic while trying to find something to ease the pain, "It'll heal though, that's what the doc said, so ya just have to take rest and don't overdo it."

Arthur hummed again, now that the pain was fading away he got thirsty again, so he grabbed the bottle with his left hand instead. Once he got a hold of the bottle, he gulped down the whole of it in less then twenty seconds.

"Ya want another one?" Alfred asked, looking wide-eyed at the thirsty Brit. Arthur nodded, and so Alfred gave him another bottle.

"Thank you," Arthur managed to say after he finished drinking two and a half bottles of water. He really needed that.

"Ah you should eat something too, dude, really how long have ya been there? Ya're starved!" Alfred told him.

"I don't know, ever since they kidnapped me I guess?" Arthur replied, trying to sit up. Slowly of course, not to hurt his shoulder or other injuries. Also his back still hurt from when they hit him.

"That'd be 4 days or something… So any idea what ya wanna eat?" Alfred now asked, "Hamburgers? Ice cream? Cake?" he summed up.

_"Really, has this bloke ever heard of 'healthy food' ?" _Arthur thought while he felt the urge to facepalm.

"No you git, that's no food, that's bloody rubbish!" Arthur now interrupted Alfred, who continued to sum up several other unhealthy dishes, "Please give me something eatable and healthy!"

"Ah but what do ya want then? Really dude, I don't understand ya," Alfred now told him with a confused look on his face.

"Just some sandwiches would be quite alright, I think," Arthur told him, "Cheese and ham, if possible…"

"Aww, c'mon Artie, don't be so polite!" Alfred said, beaming a big smile.

"Well, I'd rather be polite then act like a git as you do," Arthur huffed, glaring at the superhero. "And don't call me Artie! It's Arthur."

"Well then, _Arthur_," said Alfred with a smirk while pronouncing the name excessively, "I will go fix ya some sandwiches now!" And, once again, a bright smile beamed from his face. Arthur just kept glaring, though he did feel some respect for the lad, since, after all, he had saved him from a situation that'd have probably meant his death.

Alfred then walked out of the room, leaving the Brit alone. Now that Alfred had left, Arthur had the time to look around a bit. He still moved as little as possible, but he did see almost the whole room. It was a pretty spacious room, with a double bed in the middle. It was pretty high-tech and clean, yet it had hero-related objects everywhere; figures, comics, games, DVDs and even some old video tapes. The bed was covered with a spread printed with stars and stripes. The American flag.

"_Really, does he have to boast that much about the states?" _Arthur wondered. He almost started to believe in stereotypes…

He suddenly felt a painful pinch in his left ribs, the place where he was hit. He checked up what his injuries were and how bad they were. They were all bandaged pretty well, probably by some fine doctor (Arthur should have to thank the one who did so later).

It seemed like the worst injuries were at his shoulder, his head (it was bandaged after all) his ribs, and a cut in his cheek and arm.

"_I've been lucky, it could've been much worse…"_ Arthur thought as he remembered they had found a corpse of another cop about three weeks ago. And that guy didn't look too well, and there were still some limbs of him missing…

He noticed that when he moved he'd have most pain in his side and shoulder. _"It'll probably take a while until it's healed…" _he noted to himself.

Then he heard the door click open, but instead of the loud and obnoxious superhero he expected, there was someone else standing in the doorframe.

The guy did look alike the superhero, but he was less masculine, a lot calmer and his hair and eyes were different, even though he also wore glasses. Also he seemed to have a bag with him and a he wore a white coat. The ones doctors and scientists wear…

"Hello," the guy said calmly, still standing in the doorframe, "Is it okay if I enter?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Arthur told the guy. This one seemed a lot more the type of person he'd get along with.

"My name is Matthew Williams," the guy told him, "Nice to meet you, I'm both mechanic and doctor for Alfred, since he has to keep his superpowers hidden and all…" he said, while stretching out an arm to shake Arthur's hand.

"Ah, nice to meet you too, my name is Arthur Kirkland," Arthur said while replying the handshake, "I somewhat figured you'd be mechanic or doctor or so.. the coat" he pointed out while looking at the white coat Matthew was wearing.

"So, well… How're your injuries?" Matthew questioned him, while looking at Arthur's side, since Arthur was holding onto it with his right hand, since that was both comfortable for his shoulder and it somewhat helped against the pain.

"Ah they're all right… They hurt a bit, but it's bearable," Arthur replied.

"Alright, for now you can keep these bandages, but tomorrow I'll have to give you new ones. Your fever will be gone pretty soon, I think, and you will probably recover pretty well, though your shoulder might take a longer time, maybe even several years, since it's been stabbed. Not too deep, but still at an inconvenient spot. Asides from that you may keep a few scars, but it should be alright…" Matthew explained, "Just don't overdo it, especially since you also have a slight concussion."

"Yeah the git told me most of it," Arthur replied, still grateful he was alive, "It'll be okay,"

Almost immediately after he said so the obnoxious American walked back into the room, holding a plate with sandwiches (lots of sandwiches!) and a glass of soda.

"_I should've told him I don't drink that rubbish," _Arthur thought as he saw it.

"Artie, I'm back!" Alfred practically screamed, " Look I brought you your sandwiches and some soda and…" For a moment he fell silent, and looked at Matthew, who was standing a meter away from him. "Oh hey, ya're here! I tried to find ya and tell ya Artie was awake 'nd all, but couldn't so I went back to Artie," He said, "I didn't see ya standing there for a sec…" He added silently.

"Don't call me Artie! It's Arthur, you prick!" Was yelled from where the Brit was laying in the bed.

"Aw Artie, ya must be grumpy 'cause ya didn't eat, right?" Alfred told him with a smile while walking over to the Brit, not noticing the glare Arthur sent him, "Here, it's the very most delicious 'nd heroic food ya'll ever eat!"

Arthur rolled with his eyes, _"No way I can get along with this daft twat,"_ he thought a bit desperate, noticing how he'll have to since he had to stay here for while, both hiding and healing.

But as soon as he smelled the delicious fragrance of the sandwiched Alfred was holding, he felt and heard his stomach rumble. He felt so hungry…

Once the sandwiches were in his reach, so he could grab them without hurting himself too bad, he started to stuff his mouth, forgetting his gentleman attitude. Food's never been this tasty before…

* * *

><p>A big thanks to Caroline, caroshadow on dA, for helping me think up the past of the characters, make all characters IC and keep all the awesome shared among the characters to keep it all a fair battle, and helping me keeping the story less cliché 3 she's the best, and she really helped me out a lot! Please visit her dA, it's worth it, and also give her a REALLY BIG thanks (also since she helped me beta-ing… really. How awesome can someone be? She's almost the level of Prussia… but of course ALMOST since well,<p>

Prussia is awesome itself…) !

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><p><em>Author's note/_

_First of all; THANK FOR ALL REVIEWS, FAVS, COMMENTS, ALERTS AND WHATEVER. Thank you very much, this is what keeps me motivated!_

_I wasn't able to reply on reviews cuz of FF fail xD but whatever I read all of them, and fixed it, as written above the chapter._

_Furthermore, I'm happy since my finals ended, and I've got the feeling I did pretty well :3 let's hope it works out, I won't have the results back until july 15__th__._

_For the ones who also read my other fanfiction, I'm not sure when I upload a new chapter, it took a while cuz I was busy with finals, but thius Tuesday I'll be away, so I don't know, I'll probably try updating on Monday though._

_And and and the most awesome ever; yesterday some baby ducky was grabbed by a cat and all, so we too it in house to take care of, it's called Scone since it looks like a half-burnt scone, and it seems it'll stay with us for now. That's because when we tried to let it walk with his mum and stuff, it turned out to not be able to walk properly… but it's so cute and fluffy! _

_I feel like Gilbo, taking care of it, but whatever XD_

_I don't have very much else to tell you guys so, look forward to the new chapter, even though it doesn't get uploaded too regular… I'm lazy…_

_Byee! Reviews, Comments, Alerts, Favs, all is VERY MUCH appreciated! _

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(05/29/11)_


	4. Chapter 4

NON-BETA VER

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><p><strong>A Hero's True Love<strong>

Chapter 4

_By HamburgerWithTea_

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><p>Arthur was awake now. He looked at the clock besides him and saw he'd slept for about nine hours, which was quite nice.<p>

He'd been in the so called 'secret hideout' for about four days now. His health had visibly increased over the time that has passed. He still had pains in his ribs if he walked for a little bit, his shoulder would take even longer to heal, and he wasn't able to do too much the last few days thanks to his concussion. The fever had gone down, thanks to the careful nurseling Alfred gave him, he had to admit, but he would never say so out loud.

The one pain that didn't go away as fast was the mental damage. He was trained for the kind of event that has happened, with being hit and kidnapped and what more, but still it wouldn't stop his mind from giving him nightmares and wake up covered in cold sweat.

He hadn't told anyone about his nightmares though. He thought Alfred and Matthew would only worry more about him if he did so, and he didn't want to bother them too much. The already helped him so well…

Alfred had offered him his own bed, so now the American had slept on the sofa in the living room for the past few days, and Matthew had worked very hard to bandage him every day and make sure he felt well.

He was glad his concussion was almost gone, so he was allowed to go walk around more. Still he preferred not to stand for too long, since his ribs would hurt like hell, but it was okay to just walk to the living room and take a look through the house.

"Hey there, Artie! Up for a walk?" Alfred beamed from the sofa he was lounging on, switching between channels. Sometimes it was hard to believe this guy was actually a superhero…

"How much longer do I have to tell you it's not Artie but Arthur?" Arthur asked with an annoyed voice, "And yes, I'm feeling quite well today so I figured I'd might look around the house for a bit,"

"Whatever, just take a look at this," Alfred said, somewhat ignoring Arthurs explanation, "Look it's the new X-Man movie!" He now told Arthur with excitement, his eyes still fixed on the screen.

Arthur just muttered a small "Git," before he walked up to the sofa and sat down next to Alfred on the little space that was left. The movie seemed to be in the middle of an action scene, but Arthur could care less. Movies like this were never his cup of tea.

"You also got one of these stupid superhero costumes?" Arthur asked the American next to him. Why did he always had to use sarcasm? He just couldn't help it…

"They're not stupid! They're awesome! They show what power the superhero has 'nd they make ya recognisable!" Alfred said, a little bit offended but still happy to talk about what seemed to be his favourite subject, "Mine's not like those on TV though! It's more like normal cloths 'nd all, of course Mattie makes me some awesome gadgets... But it's got a cape!" he suddenly.

"A cape? And that makes it awesome all of a sudden?" Arthur was too late to hold back his sarcasm, once again, "And how does the rest of it look then?" He asked, since even though he heard a lot about the superhero that saved him, he'd never seen him in real life before he got saved. Which meant he never saw the chap in his superhero outfit.

"Nah it's not only the cape, it's got these awesome stars 'nd stripes 'nd all! Much more awesome then the casual cloths I mostly wear," Alfred continued his story, "It's kinda like Captain America's costume since it's got this American flag 'nd al, 'cause that guy rocks!"

"_That guy _doesn't exist, Alfred,"

"I know! But still he's awesome!"

There was no logical part of Alfred in Arthur's opinion. Arthur decided he shouldn't talk about this subject any more, it didn't matter. Also he started to feel hungry…

"Say, ya wanna grab something to eat?" Alfred asked as if he'd read Arthur's mind, "We could make somethin' like popcorn or make hamburgers!"

"I prefer a nice cup of tea and some fruit," Arthur replied, trying to show the lad what so called 'healthy food' meant. And of course tea couldn't be missed at a day like this.

Alfred went to grab them some food, gave Arthur his tea and an apple, and sat back on the sofa. And so the movie continued, both blondes not saying anything.

Once the movie ended, Alfred picked the remote to switch the channel back to the news, where they were now giving the weather forecast.

"…_It'll be rainy and even more storm clouds are ahead, so nothing really changes compared to the last two days…" _ The guy from the forecast predicted.

Suddenly Arthur realised he didn't ever hear any rain nor sounds from outside. Also there were no windows in the house. At first he hadn't noticed, since the very few times he walked around, all he had cared about was to maintain his balance. Also the furniture and layout of the house was all very white and clean, almost as if there was light coming from every wall. Suddenly he missed his own house.

His own house hadn't been too special. He'd lived there for the past 3 years of his life, but it was still empty and there weren't too much personal objects in the house. Yet it still felt a bit empty in his heart, not being able to return there for the next several weeks, maybe months. He'd grown somewhat attached to the house.

"Say, where exactly is this secret hideout of yours located?" Arthur suddenly mentioned.

"Can't tell ya that!" Alfred said to him with a huge grin, "Then it wouldn't be a secret anymore right? Only me and Mattie know!" Arthur was somewhat disappointed the superhero didn't trust him enough, yet it was completely understandable since they hadn't really spoken that much and they only knew each other for about four days.

Suddenly some beeping sounds came from the American's pocket, and Alfred took a small high-tech device (It was so high-tech Arthur didn't even recognise the type of device) out of it.

"Hey, Artie, I gotta go, some of these guys from that gang are active again," Alfred told him, a bit rushed. He then stood up and walked to a certain spot in the room, close to the door and a laser you see in movies appeared. It was almost as if Arthur was in the studio of some superhero movie, but this time it was real.

"_Well, if you see what type of high-tech items there's around here, it's not that surprising he also has this high-tech laser to change his outfit."_

He looked as Alfred's costume was formed, starting with his combat boots, then a baggy black pair of trousers, small, black fingerless gloves, a blood red cape, a black mask, and the way too boastful American-flag t-shirt.

"_At least he doesn't wear these scary too-well fitting costumes as superman and his companions wear…" _And no, he didn't, but instead he looked more like some kid that wanted to be a superhero really badly. Arthur felt the urge to facepalm, but decided that'd be too rude.

Once done 'changing' Alfred quickly winked to Arthur and then left through the door, leaving Arthur behind in some sort of shock; the Brit had never seen something like this in real life.

"_Did he really just left all of a sudden? Well I guess superheroes have to be quick…" _ Arthur wondered for a second before he started to look around him once again. The house was pretty lonely when the guy wasn't around, even though there were obviously a lot of personal objects located all over, mostly stuff that Arthur suggested to be Alfred's.

That was kind of impressive, the Brit had to admit. Soon he tried to continue with whatever he was doing; watching the TV or something. After watching for a while he noticed how he couldn't care less about the programs shown on TV so he switched it off.

Now he was sitting, thinking what to do next. He soon got the idea to grab a nice book or something, but he wouldn't know where he could get one, since it seemed there was no bookstand in the living room.

"_Maybe I should search for Matthew, he was the one who lent me his books for the past four days," _Arthur thought, and decided to search for the Canadian.

He walked to the hall way and knew he wouldn't have to bother opening the first two doors; the first one was Alfred's room, and the second one was the bathroom. He knew there had to be some place where Matthew worked as scientist, and there had to be his bedroom. Arthur also knew there was one room where all of Alfred's games and Matthews old or broken devices were stored, but there still were a few more doors then fitted these rooms. Arthur figured he'd better first walk around calling Matthew before walking into every single room; that'd be rude.

"Matthew? Oi, Matthew?" Arthur called, but there was no respond. He then decided he should knock the third door, while still calling the Canadian's name.

"Hey, Matthew, you in there?" He asked while opening the door, only to find out this was obviously the Canadians' bedroom. There was a small Canadian flag on the desk (lucky Matthew wasn't as boastful as Alfred!) and on the bed there was a huge polar bear toy. Arthur wondered if it were life-size, since it really did seem like that.

"_Where the hell can you even buy such huge toys?" _

Then Arthur decided it wasn't gentlemanly to boast into someone's room and sniff around, so he decided he should better close the door and search on. The fourth door seemed to be locked, and the fifth was the room with the games and abandoned devices.

When knocking at the sixth door and asking if Matthew was there, he heard a soft "Come in," from the other side, and thus he opened the door. The first thing Arthur noticed while walking into the room was the amount of high-tech gadgets, blueprints and all types of liquids and mechanic parts. In the light of a small spotlight desk-lamp the Canadian was bent forward, obviously working on something.

Arthur approached and asked; "What are you doing?" being way too curious for the answer to be more polite. He walked up to the desk and looked at what Matthew was making.

He saw a pair of fingerless gloves, the same type as Alfred wore once he was transformed, only there were all typed of wires hanging out of them, which was what Matthew was now busy fixing, it seemed.

"Ah these are new gloves for Alfred. They improve his superpower when he uses them," Matthew explained

"Then what is his power?" Arthur asked curiously.

"He's got super strength. He might not look like some bodybuilder but his strength is enormous. These gloves will make his hands even stronger." Matthew now said to the curious Brit.

"So… Do all superheroes have super strength as their power?" Arthur continued to ask. He was really interested in this stuff now he finally saw it happen in real life. Before he didn't bother to get to know it, but in these times of solitude and new experiences he decided it would be for the best to get to know more about this superhero thing.

"No, it differs from people. It's only around the maximum of one percent of humanity that's got superpowers, and each power is different. Alfred's got the power of strength, but I've heard of supers with the power of telekinesis, super speed, or invisibility. Also it mostly only gets shown once the supers reach the age of eighteen. So, in Alfred's case he has only had these powers for a year now."

"Ah," Arthur replied while nodding, waiting to save all the info in his brain. He was happy to be a good learner.

"Most supers don't use their strength though, they prefer to keep living on their usual life, even though it can be very difficult for them to keep their identity hidden. Others, like Alfred, chose to use it for justice, but there's also a small amount that help the gangs around here. We noticed since there's been several incidents that couldn't have been happening without a super." Matthew continued, his voice getting a bit lower and darker as he got to the part about the bad 'supers'.

"_It really seems like Alfred, to use his strength in the name of justice," _Arthur thought while imagining the his saviour saying all kinds of selfish and hero-related things.

After he grabbed a spare chair, Arthur just sat there for a while, looking at what Matthew was doing, sometimes asking him questions about supers or mechanics and sometimes even about the normal life. They talked a lot and Arthur noticed it would be easy for him to become friends with Matthew.

"_At least a lot easier then with Alfred,"_

"Say how about making diner?" Matthew asked one he sewed the last piece of the gloves now the wires were back in again, and mumbled a quick "Will have to let Alfred try them out when he's back,".

"Yes please, I could help?" Arthur offered, since he himself was certain he was quite good at cooking. His brothers never agreed, and most people tried to keep him away from the kitchen he noticed, but still he was pretty sure that was just because they didn't know what 'good food' was. Of course he burnt some food once in a while, but everyone did, right?

"Okay, sounds good. Lets make some pancakes, they're delicious with maplesyrup!" Matthew said, sounding very happy when he talked about his favourite dish.

"Yeah sure," Arthur nodded and both of them walked to the kitchen, not aware that they would have to eat half of their pancakes burnt, because Arthur didn't out the be the good cook he claimed to be.

Matthew just remembered himself not to ever let the Brit in the kitchen again.

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><p><em>Author's note/_

_Oke so here I am, a new chapter, and it's pure fail. Sorry it took so long, I know it should've been up sooner, but damn I couldn't think up a costume, and now I got one, thought up together with caroshadow, but damn it looks like some kiddy costume XD link can be found at my profile / where other links are located._

_SOMONE PLEASE KILL ME FOR FAILING._

_Sorry, really, I do have a plotline, but jkfdnkjbhbj it can't be written now, that'd be too soon!_

_Sorry for the very little usuk in this chapter, will get more next, but I dunno I just had to let this chapter explain a lot even though it probably only brought up more questions XD_

_And damn I don't know anything about supers XD haha /fail_

_Byee 3_

_I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!_

_(06/12/13)_

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><p><em>A big thanks to Caroline, <em>_**caroshadow**__ on dA, for helping me think up the past of the characters, make all characters IC and keep all the awesome shared among the characters to keep it all a fair battle, and helping me keeping the story less cliché 3 she's the best, and she really helped me out a lot! Please visit her dA, it's worth it, and also give her a REALLY BIG thanks (also since she helped me beta-ing… really. How awesome can someone be? She's almost the level of Prussia… but of course ALMOST since well, Prussia is awesome itself…) !_


End file.
